Abbas Tyrewala consults Salim Khan for '1:800 Love'

By Subhash K. Jha

Mumbai, July 25 (IANS) In an industry where directors and writers usually work in isolation, Abbas Tyrewala has consulted screen-writing legend Salim Khan to fix the pre-climax in the script of his second directorial venture "1:800 Love".

"The situation could've been potentially destructive for me. I needed a second opinion on my script. It's easy to sit within your own creative circle and feel smug and sure," Tyrewala told IANS.

That's when the young director remembered Salim Khan, who has written the script of hits like "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Zanjeer" and "Sholay" along with writer-poet Javed Akhtar.

"Salim Khan had sent me a message after seeing 'Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na' that he wanted to meet me. I had dropped in out of a sense of courtesy for a man who along with Javed Akhtar-saab had changed the way we look at screenplay in Hindi cinema. I spent almost the entire day with him discussing cinema and life.

"I came away enriched. He had said my 'Jaane Tu...' was one of those very few films where after watching no change seemed possible. And now when I needed a second opinion on my second film, I naturally thought of Salim-saab."

"1:800 Love" is Tyrewala's wife Pakhi's debut vehicle and she has teamed up with John Abraham in the movie.

The celebrated scriptwriter immediately invited Tyrewala over, but because of his pre-production work, the director was unable to go personally.

"He wanted me to narrate my script to him. I'd have loved to. That didn't happen. So I offered to send him the script of '1:800 Love'. He got back in no time at all and suggested some changes here and there," he said.

But the most radical change that Salim Khan suggested took Tyrewala completely by surprise.

"He wanted me to make changes in the tone and dialogues of the pre-climax sequence. At the very moment when Salim-saab told me to make the change, I was doing exactly that! At that very minute I was sitting down to change that scene. It's amazing that he could ferret out that very weak spot in my screenplay that troubled me and suggest how to alter it," he said.

Salim Khan has also suggested several changes in the dialogues that Tyrewala has gladly incorporated.

"Now when I start my workshops with John and Pakhi, I feel so much more confident about my characters and what they've to say and do," said Tyrewala, who has no problems billing Salim Khan in the credits of "1:800 Love".

"In fact, my wife Pakhi and I welcome Salim-saab's name in the credits. What an honour!"

Interestingly, Ratna Pathak Shah was the ghost-consultant on the script of Tyrewala's "Jaane Tu....Ya Jaane Na".

"I guess I'm just lucky to have so many creative minds helping me out," the writer-director said.